GLASHÜTTE - Three leads for Glashütte’s future

GLASHÜTTE - Three leads for Glashütte’s future

uined, oppressed, plundered – Germany’s
watchmaking stronghold has succeeded in
rising from the ashes several times over. Its
“quartz crises” were real wars, blockades and
wholesale dismantling. As Swiss watchmaking
suffers the throes of a deep-seated crisis, we
travelled to Glashütte to investigate what has
been accomplished there since the fall of the
Wall. Everything had to be rebuilt from scratch
and (almost) everything has been. Travel notes (Part III).

It sounds like a magic formula: take some watchmakers who
have been established in Glashütte for six generations and
get them talking with edgy young designers from all over
the world who are headquartered in Berlin. What you get
is the modus operandi of Nomos, which has outsourced its
design and visual art department, called Berlinerblau, to the
German capital. It is a kind of think tank of 30 people from
tomorrow’s watchmaking world. Not content with just designing
the watches, they also develop the company website,
photograph the watches, shoot promotional videos and create
the brand’s exhibition booths and watch packaging. Its
bold, coherent identity is instantly recognisable.

New technologies:
the silicon of Glashütte Original

“Unlike Switzerland, Glashütte was ruined several
times over: it had to undergo a revival after the
Second World War and the Cold War. As different
political or religious regimes were forever being
imposed on them, the inhabitants developed
great resilience and the capacity to adapt. There
is little resistance to change. That’s why any new
technology, such as the use of silicon, is well accepted,”
explains Yann Gamard of Glashütte Original. The
manufacture’s brand-new movement, Calibre 36 – three years
in development – has a silicon balance spring. Conversely,
A. Lange & Söhne, which manufactures its balance springs inhouse,
refuses to use silicon. Why? “We want watchmakers
to be able to repair our watches in 100 years’ time!”

Exclusivity and niche marketing

Glashütte watches are even rarer than Swiss watches, which
themselves account for scarcely more than 3% of global volume.
And the watchmakers in this Saxon village have no
intention of engaging in a race for volume. Their strategy
of rarity, exclusivity and niche marketing seems to be succeeding.
As Wilhelm Schmid at A. Lange & Söhne explains:
“I believe that our strategy of being exclusive rather than
well-known will help us face up to the difficult market conditions.
Exclusivity is the new luxury. And we have proven
that our watches are able to retain their value over time.”